


Beginning

by Agent_Bluefox



Series: X Company Short Stories [3]
Category: X Company (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Bluefox/pseuds/Agent_Bluefox
Summary: Arrival of more recruits, and Neil meets Rene
Series: X Company Short Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187687





	Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm not sure if these are actually interesting or not. Like I said in the notes in the last story, I wanted to create a sort of basis of how all the characters ended up at Camp X, meeting each other and all that. But there are other authors on here who have done that more effectively. 
> 
> I've got a few more set before the series at the camp, then at least one set immediately before episode 1.

Neil Mackay was a patient man. 

Most of the time. Well, sometimes anyway. 

Right now, was not one of those times. 

He folded his arms over his chest and cast a glare that, by all rights, should have incinerated the object of his frustration. Instead, the man in question seemed oblivious to the   
attention he was meriting, proceeding about his unpacking at a leisurely pace. 

Neil finally unfolded his arms. “Hey Blondie.”

The man finally looked up, as though just now noticing him. “Oh, hey.” He stuck out his hand, which Neil ignored. 

“That’s my bunk,” he said instead. 

The man turned and glanced at the bed before swinging back around to Neil. “Really?”

“Didn’t notice the duffle underneath?” He nudged the bag with his foot, yet to be unpacked despite Neil having been there for about a week. 

The man looked at it. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I’ll take the other one.” He grabbed his own bag, dropping it on the opposite bed. “Tom Cummings, by the way.”

Neil just grunted. He tossed his bag back under the bed and surveyed the barracks. All the new recruits were spread out between the two large men’s barracks, two large open   
rooms with both single beds and bunks toward the back. The majority of those were empty though, most opting for a bed of their own. 

Neil had been there a week and had only shared the barracks with a couple other guys, now there were about ten from the last bus in. not many, but still more than before. 

The way Neil understood it, once you were through with basic training – assuming you didn’t wash out – you were assigned a team or group and were moved to the barracks across the compound where you bunked with two of three other members of your team. Of course, he had quickly discovered that the whole operation here was a little haphazard. They were set up to train recruits, they just lacked the practical experience that a traditional military operation had. 

Neil figured he could put up with the increased number for a couple weeks. He’d stayed and slept in worse places, under worse conditions. Didn’t mean he had to enjoy it though. 

Glancing around, he picked out a few who looked like military men. Maybe picked up from the army or navy. That blond, Cummings, seemed to be the only American, though of course, it was hard to tell without speaking to them individually. There were a couple French and Polish as well, Neil noticed, going by their accents. One man with dark hair and eyes took the bunk closest to the door and Neil heard him speaking French with one of the younger men. 

A few definitely did not look as though they belonged in a place like this. One, a short man with glasses, looked like he wasn’t even out of his teens. 

Neil sighed under his breath. How did they expect to win this war by scraping the barrel for recruits?

Then he thought that, if he was going to say that, then he had to consider he had been scraped from the same barrel. That didn’t make him feel any better.

They were all supposed to gather in the field outside the barracks at 0900 hours, so Neil started heading that way. 

He positioned himself against one of the outbuildings and let his gaze roam around the camp. Since arriving, he’d made a point to get to know the layout of the place. He was   
fairly certain he had been in every building he was allowed into – and some that he probably was not.

He paused as he noticed a blond woman still in civilian clothes – a blue dress that hung nicely on her, Neil noticed – strolling around, appearing perfectly at ease. Watching her though, Neil suddenly realized she was far from passive. She was taking it all in, taking note of the guard towers and the likely scope of the searchlights, counting the barracks, and measuring the distance to the woods. 

The other recruits began to filter out of the men’s and women’s barracks, respectively, and Neil went over to stand on the end. 

There were more men than women, but Neil was still surprised that there were as many as there were. He noticed the blond woman went to stand by the dark-haired   
Frenchman he had noticed in the barracks. They seemed familiar with each other. 

Maybe more than familiar, Neil considered as the two exchanged a glance. 

Once they were all lined up in two rows, Colonel Sinclair stepped forward and tucked his hands behind his back. 

Neil had only met Colonel Sinclair face to face twice. Back in London, and his first day at camp, but he had seen the man around. He seemed to enjoy maintaining a relationship   
with the recruits, mingling with them. Neil respected that. He didn’t like a commanding officer who led from behind a desk. 

Sinclair cast a critical eye over the recruits. “You are all here because you have been hand-selected. Because we think you have skills that will prove valuable in the field. Few of you have been told in any depth what it is we actually do here, but I have no doubt some of you have begun to figure it out on your own. You know the basics, now it’s time you know exactly what you signed up for.” He paused. “Over the next three weeks, you will undergo a crash course in all areas of espionage and sabotage operations, with the objective of preparing you to be sent into the field behind enemy lines.”

Again, Neil cast a glance around the other recruits, gauging their reactions. The blond woman’s expression was impassive. So was the man’s beside her. Interesting. 

“Today will be your introduction. You’ll be given a uniform and the necessary paperwork, then you will report to the main building at 1400 hours.” His lips quirked into   
something resembling a smile. “That’s two o’clock, for those of you unfamiliar with military time. Any questions?”

One man tentatively raised his hand. 

Sinclair nodded. “Private James?”

“I was just wondering, Sir…”

Neil leaned forward a little. It was the kid with glasses he had noticed back in barracks. Figures, he thought. 

“What if we don’t make it through training? For the field, that is.”

“Good question,” Sinclair said. “Not everyone is cut out to be a field agent. Nothing to be ashamed of. If your skills lie in other areas, there are other options. Even options here   
in camp on our staff.” 

The recruits seemed to perk up a little at that, the knowledge that they wouldn’t be a total waste if they washed out of field training. 

The rest of the day went pretty much as Neil had anticipated. They received their uniforms, got the extended speech from Sinclair and a couple of the other instructors, telling   
them what to expect over the next weeks. 

Once they were all gathered in one of the meeting rooms later, Neil was able to see that there were twenty-two recruits in total. Only four women. He began to mentally size   
them up, anticipating who would make it and who would wash out. That kid, James, would probably end up behind a desk somewhere. Cummings might make it, if he could see past his own ego. There was a Polish man who seemed to have potential, and a Canadian woman who might make it out of sheer force of will. 

Rene and Aurora – the blond and the Frenchman – were an interesting case. Neil suspected there was more to them than met the eye. His suspicions were confirmed the next day when he was called to Sinclair’s office. Rene was already there. He nodded as Neil stood beside him, facing Sinclair. 

“Neil Mackay, Rene Villiers.” He got to his feet and glanced between them. “Neil, I’ve already informed Rene as to your record. He’s impressed.”

Neil frowned and cast Rene a sidelong glance. “Bloody fantastic. Impressing Rene is what I aspire to.”

The man beside him bit back a laugh and Neil did a double take. Apparently this Rene fellow had a sense of humor. 

Sinclair gave him a stern glare. “Rene has an impressive record of his own. He and Aurora Luft were part of the French Resistance. Up until a couple months ago, they operated a cell in France by themselves, specializing in sabotage.”

Neil looked at him. “So you’ve already got field experience.”

“That’s right.”

“Rene is going to lead our first team behind enemy lines,” Sinclair continued. “He’s been given leave to select the members of his team that he thinks he’ll need from among the recruits here. Since you’re going to be training the recruits in hand-to-hand combat, I’d like you to assist him. Point out the recruits with the most potential.”

Neil nodded. “Happy to. Sir,” he added as an afterthought. 

Sinclair nodded. “Good. We need to get this moving as quickly as possible. Rene’s old Underground contacts are still active in Montrose and Villemarie, awaiting new orders. We’re aiming for three weeks from now when we’ll drop the team in France.”

“You think the recruits will be ready that quickly?” 

“You tell me.”

Neil considered, thinking over the men and women he had observed today. “I’ll let you know.”

Sinclair smiled. It was a reserved smile that showed more in his eyes than his mouth. 

They were dismissed and Neil followed Rene out into the hallway. Though the windows of the closed swinging doors, he could see the communications room, and the Hydra   
center beyond it. That was one of those things he wasn’t strictly supposed to know about. 

Turning to Rene, he regarded him thoughtfully. “So, a resistance cell in France, huh?”

He nodded, then switched the topic around, seeming reluctant to offer up any further information. “Colonel Sinclair seems to think pretty highly of this fighting technique you’re so good at.”

Neil shrugged, unwilling to offer up too much himeslf. “It’s dirty fighting. Dirty but effective. You learn a lot on the streets of Shanghai.”

A smile touched the corners of Rene’s lips and he nodded again. “I’m sure you do. Well, Neil,” he held out his hand. “I’ll see you around.”

Neil took it and nodded. “Yeah, see you around.”

He watched Rene’s retreating back and considered. This might just turn out to be interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism are welcome!


End file.
